Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Krusty_Clown

Today: 22 Mile run out to Marley Park, and back again through various parks. After reading Tergat's most recent advice, I decided I'd stay away from the 'hero' runs, and keep it safe and sensible. But then after 10 miles, the hero came along, with the strength to carry on. Then I cast my fears aside, and I knew I could survive. A cringe-worthy way of saying, with the wind and the hills behind me, the pace picked up stealthily, so that I ran the last 10 miles at under 7 minute/mile, but thankfully, no half marathon pace miles, like the last long run.

Too many forced breaks, with traffic lights and traffic, and another exploding gel that once again left me covered in a sticky mess, but generally very happy with the run.

Yippee, it's Party Taper Time.

Summary: 22 miles, in 2:37, @7:08/mile, HR=143

BeepBeep67

You're in great shape Krusty, keep it between the ditches for the next 3 weeks!

tisnotover

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Summary: 22 miles, in 2:37, @7:08/mile, HR=143

Nice running Krusty, funny about the exploding gel
Great last long run in to get in going into your taper, finishing strong for the last 10miles, a good time is def around the corner.

misty floyd

You don't need me to say but you'll nail Barca. Look inside you and be strong Cheese ball central.

hi√25

theboyblunder

All indicators look very good Krusty - enjoy the taper!

Sosa

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

But then after 10 miles, the hero came along, with the strength to carry on. Then I cast my fears aside, and I knew I could survive.

Is that Mariah Carey i hear in the background ?

Great run

Krusty_Clown

Sosa wrote: »

Is that Mariah Carey i hear in the background ?

Great run

I've never heard of Mariah Carey. Is she a runner? Obviously you have a latent sub-conscious desire to listen to Mariah Carey, so that's what you're interpreting from my post.

Sosa

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I've never heard of Mariah Carey. Is she a runner? Obviously you have a latent sub-conscious desire to listen to Mariah Carey, so that's what you're interpreting from my post.

Your probably right

DustyBin

Fair play Krusty, you haven't let the ball drop once since Berlin and appear to have put everything into both your 10k and marathon training plans. You deserve a really good run in Barcelona and another PB by some distance. All the hard work is behind you at this stage, enjoy your taper and give it socks in Spain!

mithril

How does the route in Barcelona compare with Berlin?

--amadeus--

Exploding gel or excitement I wonder...!

Looking very strong there, how do you normally cope with taper madness?

Krusty_Clown

mithril wrote: »

How does the route in Barcelona compare with Berlin?

Hi Mithril, it's certainly not as flat as Berlin, but a lot less hilly than any of my training runs. There's one final climb towards the end of the race that comes at just the wrong time, but hopefully the smell of home will keep us going (and the thoughts of a nice cold beer, after four weeks of abstinence!).

Krusty_Clown

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Looking very strong there, how do you normally cope with taper madness?

I listen to Mariah Carey.

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: One hour of swimming. Enjoyable session, but I'm not making any progress any more.

Today: 8 Miles with 5 x 600m @ 5K pace
3.5 mile warm-up, followed by the intervals, in which I continued to go out too fast, and then slowed up to try and keep things on track. Am I the only one who is really crap at estimating paces? Anyway, apart from my obvious short-comings, the session went quickly and painlessly. Calf muscles are both stiff and tired now, probably as a result of an interval session two days after a long run, which still seems like a strange pairing, in the P&D program.

Intervals: Average pace: 5:38, HR=157
Same session two weeks ago: Pace: 5:37, HR=153
So consistent if nothing else!

60 Miles last week, going to cut back to around 45-47 this week. Still no sign of a race on Saturday, so might have to aim for another time trial.

Summary: 8 miles in 59 mins, HR=142

Krusty_Clown

Before I started traning for my first marathon, I was close to 13 stone, which for someone a hairs-breadth from 6 foot isn't by any means large. In fact it's classed as normal in BMI terms (albeit at the higher end of normal). After a couple of marathons my weight dropped to 12 stone, and has been there or thereabouts since (middle of normal on BMI scale). When training for Berlin Marathon last year, I gave up the alcohol for four weeks, and ate healthily, and my weight dropped closer to 11 stone (lower-end of normal on BMI scale). Right now I'm a couple of pounds lighter than 12 stone, and my weight seems to be dropping. Why?

Monday: 1 Pint Guinness after swimming=220 calories
Wednesday: Maybe two beers watching the Champions league=440
Thursday: Two beers in the pub with a few mates=364
Friday: Possibly a pub night, possible a stay home night, let's average it at 4 beers=882
Saturday night: Let's go mad, and say 5 beers=1,101
Sunday: Oh dear, Krusty has issues - another two beers = 441
(and yes, I know this is well over the recommended guidelines!).

Ok, so it might not always be as bad as the above (and sometimes it may possibly be worse).
Total additional calories from alcohol: 3,439.

Let's say I indulge in the odd non-alcoholic beer, or extra fruit, as a substitue for the alcohol. So how many calories am I no longer consuming per week?
Let's call it 2,743.

So, given my weight, how far would I have to run (per week), to burn those additional calories? 25 miles.
So by giving up alcohol, it's the equivalent of running an extra 25 miles per week (albeit without the training benefits).
I'll report back on how the abstinence is going, but i'm definitely benefitting from a health and rest perspective.

Sosa

Interesting Krusty,i actually had not realised the calories in beer...never really thought to much about it tbh.
Im doing the Wexford half May 3rd and i am giving up the beer for the next 5 weeks to take me up to cork.
So i will be having a nice few after the half

Krusty_Clown

That's the reward for doing all the hard work! I'm already looking forward to a few beers in Barcelona... I definitely have issues.

Speedy44

you've convinced me Krusty, I'm off it 'til after the Craughwell 10ml on March 14th.
Thanks, I think !

Krusty_Clown

Speedy44 wrote: »

you've convinced me Krusty, I'm off it 'til after the Craughwell 10ml on March 14th.
Thanks, I think !

If you think of races in terms of millileters, you've got bigger issues than I have. Of course this really only works if if you drink a pretty significant amount of alcohol. If you sip a couple of white-wine spritzers a week while watching the ballet on Sky Arts, then you won't derive much benefit.
(finally an advantage to being an over-indulgent slob).

Krusty_Clown

Today: Nice chilled recovery run with a buddy. A few flea-bags around the place (normally never see anyone on my runs) but it was a nice run, and helped with the calf and ankle.
Summary: 5 miles in 44 mins, @9min.mile, HR=119

Sosa

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: Nice chilled recovery run with a buddy. A few flea-bags around the place (normally never see anyone on my runs) but it was a nice run, and helped with the calf and ankle.
Summary: 5 miles in 44 mins, @9min.mile, HR=119

Its not running you were thinking of there....and your talking to me about subconscious thinking

Krusty_Clown

Lol. Nice, chilled, smooth, creamy, nutty, bubbly run, with just a hint of malt and barley.

belcarra

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Monday: 1 Pint Guinness after swimming=220 calories
Wednesday: Maybe two beers watching the Champions league=440
Thursday: Two beers in the pub with a few mates=364
Friday: Possibly a pub night, possible a stay home night, let's average it at 4 beers=882
Saturday night: Let's go mad, and say 5 beers=1,101
Sunday: Oh dear, Krusty has issues - another two beers = 441

What have you got against Tuesdays?? The pub must clash with Desperate Housewives or something??:p

Krusty_Clown

Tuesdays I go to prayer group, and atone for my indulgences and weaknesses (including my unhealthy fascination with Desperate Housewives and Maria Carey).

Krusty_Clown

Tonight: 5 mile run up 'meine olde enemy' - Quarry Road. It's a two mile climb with about 145m ascent, followed by three speedy miles back home. The perfect taper run - a mini tempo and some quick downhill miles for a bit of leg turnover. Bloody cold though. The mp3 player stopped working at the top of the hill, where it must have been around -4'C, but at the top, you're rewarded with a great view, which makes the brief climb worth it. Roads are getting quite frosty. Could be winter - the second coming.

Summary: 5 miles in 35 mins, @ 7:09/mile, HR=150

Krusty_Clown

Today: Just the scheduled 4 mile run with strides. It's funny how perceptions change. When doing a 10k program, 4 miles is a medium length run. Now it feels like it's hardly worth putting on the runners to get out for 30 minutes. Ah well. Each crappy run draws me one day closer.

Summary: 4 miles in 30 mins, @ 7:44, HR=132

Krusty_Clown

Today: 9 Miles, with 6.2 Mile tempo run
Taper time - A nice relaxing three week rest period full of tasty carbohydrates, in the lead up to a nice sun holiday. What could be better? Then....BAM.... Sucker punch.

A 10k time trial, where half way through, you just want to give up running. You just want to stop moving your feet and lie down in the shady grass for a while. You can taste the blood in your mouth, and feel the lactate leaking through your system, poisoning your mind and weakening your muscles. You've loosely planned a route, but you're not really going anywhere. What's the point? Stop..Give up. It's a meaningless run anyway. A race against no-one. Call it a Tempo run instead, and pull up after four miles. Nobody will know or care. Nearly at five miles. It would be a PB for five miles. I'll stop at 5. Even P&D would be happy with that. I'm running by the sea, the music's good, I'll struggle on for another bit. I wanna stop, I wanna stop, I wanna stop... Must keep going.. Struggle on. Beep.

It's a mental battle, not a physical one. Not an indicator of a potential 10k time, but instead, an indication of progress. A barometer to let you know that you're training has been of value. That you may be running faster, and you might be mentally stronger. It was a tough run before Berlin, and it was a tough run today. A net downhill run (30m) over a route that suited me (uphill start), so not a realistic 10k emulation, but 1:30 faster than when I covered a similar route before Berlin.

A two mile warm-down, an ice bath (like it's not cold enough outside!) to treat a sore right achilles and it's time to rest.

Summary: 9 Miles in 58 mins, @6:29, HR=162, (including 10k@ 5:55/mile, HR=169).

donothoponpop

You, sir, have ticked every box there is. Brilliant, steady, training over the past few months. Enjoy your taper, and look forward to getting your reward.

Sosa

Well done Krusty...good run again...

theboyblunder

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: 9 Miles, with 6.2 Mile tempo run
Taper time - A nice relaxing three week rest period full of tasty carbohydrates, in the lead up to a nice sun holiday. What could be better? Then....BAM.... Sucker punch.

A 10k time trial, where half way through, you just want to give up running. You just want to stop moving your feet and lie down in the shady grass for a while. You can taste the blood in your mouth, and feel the lactate leaking through your system, poisoning your mind and weakening your muscles. You've loosely planned a route, but you're not really going anywhere. What's the point? Stop..Give up. It's a meaningless run anyway. A race against no-one. Call it a Tempo run instead, and pull up after four miles. Nobody will know or care. Nearly at five miles. It would be a PB for five miles. I'll stop at 5. Even P&D would be happy with that. I'm running by the sea, the music's good, I'll struggle on for another bit. I wanna stop, I wanna stop, I wanna stop... Must keep going.. Struggle on. Beep.

It's a mental battle, not a physical one. Not an indicator of a potential 10k time, but instead, an indication of progress. A barometer to let you know that you're training has been of value. That you may be running faster, and you might be mentally stronger. It was a tough run before Berlin, and it was a tough run today. A net downhill run (30m) over a route that suited me (uphill start), so not a realistic 10k emulation, but 1:30 faster than when I covered a similar route before Berlin.

A two mile warm-down, an ice bath (like it's not cold enough outside!) to treat a sore right achilles and it's time to rest.

Summary: 9 Miles in 58 mins, @6:29, HR=162, (including 10k@ 5:55/mile, HR=169).

fantastic run Krusty. Great time - looking forward to your race report!